Dallas Winston
Dallas or Dally Winston is a seventeen year old greaser, who hangs around the main gang in The Outsiders. Appearance : Dallas had a elf like face. His cheekbones are high, and his chin is pointed. His teeth are decribed as small and sharp, almost animal-like, and his ears are shaped like the ones of a lynx. He is towheaded, meaning his hair is very blond, being almost white, and his hair fell in wisps over his forehead and curled behind his ears and along his neck. His hair also stuck out in the back in tufts. His eyes are a unique shade of blue, like ice.Revealed in The Outsiders, page 10. Ponyboy thinks that he is not handsome, but holds pride, character and defiance of the world in his looks. Revealed in The Outsiders, page 59 : In the movie, as portrayed by Matt Dillon, Dallas has brown hair and brown eyes. Revealed in The Outsiders movie. Personality :Dallas is said to be tougher, meaner, more dangerous and even colder than anybody else in the gang. He was very wild, more like the greasers in Tim Shepard's gang. He has no specific thing to hate, due to the lack of gang rivalries in his area. He only hates Socs, because the greasers could never beat them, even if they did beat them in a fight. Dallas is a bitter, and has one bad repuatation for things like getting drunk, jumping people, lying, cheating and stealing. He enjoys riding in rodeos, and is one smart person, having been through a lot. Lots of people respect him. Revealed in The Outsiders, page 11 :Dallas also doesn't like to do things the legal way. He didn't care whether or not there was a law, and he loved to show it. That's the reason why he tries to break laws. Revealed in The Outsiders, page 20It is also said that Mrs. Curtis could talk him out of trouble. Revealed in The Outsiders, page 48 Ponyboy thinks it would be a miracle for Dallas to love anything.Revealed in The Outsiders, page 59Johnny thinks that Dallas is gallant for his actions. He is a real type of hero, not the ones you read about in books or see in movies. Revealed in The Outsiders, page 76 History ''The Outsiders :Dally had grown up on the rough side of New York. He would hang around rough gangs, and got arrested for the first time at the age of ten. Following that, he was arrested several more times. At the age of fourteen, he and his parents settled into Tulsa. :Dallas is first seen after Ponyboy gets jumped, back at the Curtis house. He asks if Ponyboy is alright, and Ponyboy says he is, telling Dallas that he didn't know he was out of jail yet. Dally says that he was let out early for good behaviour and lights a cigarette, handing it to Johnny. :The gang starts chattering about how Pony shouldn't be walking on his lonesome, and Dallas mentions that he was going to see a movie the next night, and asks if anybody wants to join him. Soda, Steve and Darry all have plans, so Dally asks Johnny, Ponyboy and Two-Bit if they want to come. Ponyboy says he would come with Johnny, and Darry lets him since it isn't a school night. Two-Bit says he'll join them if he wasn't drunk. :Steve starts looking at Dally's hand, and notices he had his ring back, which he fought a drunk senior to obtain. Steve asks if he had broke up with Sylvia again, and Dally says yes because she was cheating on him again while he was in prison. :The following day, Dallas was waiting for Johnny and Ponyboy under a streetlight, ready to kill time before the movie. They went to a drugstore in the shopping center to fool around. The boys bought Cokes and blew the wrappers of the straws at waitresses, and then loitered about in the store until the manager kicked them out. Dallas has walked out with some packages of Kools under his jacket. :After, the boys headed to The Dingo, a rough drive-in that greasers hang around at. They spoke with greasers and hoods that they knew and were informed on the latest gossip, like who was locked up, who was on the run, who was going out with who, who could beat up who, etc. There was a fight between a greaser and a Mexican hitchhiker, and Dallas, Ponyboy and Johnny split once the switchblades came out because nobody wanted to be there when the police arrived. They find some junior high students, and chase them before heading to the movie. :At the Nightly Double movies, Dallas led the boys in illegally, and sat in front of two Soc girl; one a redhead, the other a brunette. Dallas started sexually harassing the girls, making Ponyboy feel embarrassed while Johnny left to get a Coke. Ponyboy mentions that he would've helped Dallas taunt them if they hadn't been Soc girls. Getting impatient, Dallas put his feet up on the redhead's chair and started saying more dirty things. The redhead turned around, glaring at him and told him to put his feet down. Dally refused, and asked the Soc girl who was going to make him, and the brunette blurted out that Dallas was the greaser who jockeys for Slash J sometimes, like Dally wasn't even there. :Dallas said they he has seen the two Soc girls around rodeos, and the redhead remarks that it's a shame Dallas can't ride a bull half as good as he can talk it. This doesn't seem to bug Dallas. He continues to taunt the Soc girls, until the redhead says she'll call the cops. Dallas asks her if she wants to know what he's been in for, and she begs him to leave her alone. Dallas says he is never nice and offers her a Coke, and she tells him to get lost. Dallas casually shrugged and walked off. :The redhead, named Cherry, started talking to Ponyboy and calls Dallas trash. Ponyboy says that he and Dallas are buddies, and Cherry apologizes because she didn't know she was insulting his friend. Dallas came back with several Cokes, and hands one to everybody. He tells Cherry that it might cool her off, and this makes her angry. She threw the Coke in Dally's face and told him that if he learns to act and talk decently, then she might cool off too. Dallas says that she is fiery, just how he prefers girls, and tried to put his arm around her. Johnny stops him, telling Dallas to leave Cherry alone, and Dallas is stunned. Johnny tells Dallas again, and Dally just gets up and leaves the movies, not coming back. :When Johnny kills a Soc, he and Ponyboy go to Dallas for help because they believe that he can get him out og the situation. They go to Buck Merril's place since Dally was at a party there. Johnny tells him what's happened, and then apologizing for keeping him away from the party. Dally remarks saying he was in the bedroom trying to get some sleep. He had a fight with Tim Shepard. Dallas noticed that Ponyboy was wet, and took him and Johnny into an empty bedroom. He gave Ponyboy one of Buck's shirts, even if it was too big for him, and gave Johnny fifty bucks and a gun. He told Ponyboy that he didn't want to be the one to tell Darry what happened to them, and gave the two boys instructions to an old church on top of Jay Mountain in Windrixville. Dallas described a little bit of what the church was like, and told Johnny and Ponyboy what to do when they got there, and that he would be there himself as soon as he thought everything was clear. Dally also squeezes in that he thought that New York was the only place he'd end up in a murder rap, which makes Johnny shake a little. Then, he leads the boys to the exit, telling them to get going. :Dally shows up at the church about five days after Pony and Johnny go. The boys start throwing questions at him, and he slows them down, inviting them out to ear before answering any. He gets a cigarette from Johnny, and told the boys that the police think they are heading to Texas. Ponyboy notices that he hasn't shaved in a while, and it looks like he's been sleeping in the same clothes, but doesn't say anything. Dallas hands Ponyboy a letter, and says jokingly that it's from the President, and then says it's from Soda, who came over to Buck's and questioned him. Soda knew that Dallas knew where Pony and Johnny were, but Dally just never admitted it. After reading the letter, Pony asks Dallas why he got hauled in and Dallas tells him that the cops call him up for everything that goes on around their area. Dallas says that he told the cops they were heading for Texas, and that's why they are searching there. :Dallas took Ponyboy and Johnny for a ride in Buck's T-Bird to Dairy Queen where they went to get some food. They sit in the car while they eat, and Dallas reveals some more news. The Socs and the greasers were having a warfare in the city. It was so bad, that Dally had to start carrying a heater, but an unloaded one for bluff. Dallas also told the younger greasers that their and Tim Shepard's gang were having a rumble with the Socs. If the greasers win, the Socs stayed out of the East side, but if the Socs win, things went on as usual. Dallas also went on about how Two-Bit had gotten jumped, and got saved by him and Darry, and how the greasers got a new spy; Cherry Valance. Johnny and Ponyboy were shocked to hear this, and Dallas said that she had came over to the vacant lot to talk. Dallas explained the whole story, then looked around, saying that this place was out of it, and he'd never been in the country before. Johnny told Dallas that he wanted to go back and turn himself in, which made Dallas flip out. Johnny reasoned with him, but Dallas was still unsure. Johnny started rambling on about how his parents could careless, but Dallas interrupted him saying that the gang was worried, and that Two-Bit wanted to go to Texas to look for them. Johnny kept on asking about his parents, but Dallas said no and told Johnny that his father didn't care about anything he does. Ponyboy feels sympathy towards Dally because he meant it when he said he hated his dad. :Dallas begins driving back to the church, and asks Johnny why he didn't turn himself in five days before, since it would've saved a lot of trouble. Johnny says he was scared, and he still is. Dally continued to scowl to himself and Ponyboy left him alone. Johnny asked Dally if he would prefer it if Johnny were always on the run, but he didn't have time to answer because he slammed onto the brakes at the sight of a burning church. :Ponyboy wanted to see what was going on, but Dallas told him to stay inside the car before he bashed his head in. The boys ignored him and jumped out anyways, and Dally sat in the car swearing. Dallas appears at the window of the burning church, screaming at Ponyboy to get out and to forget about the kids. Ponyboy ignores him, and continues to get the kids out, then comes out of the window himself. Dallas hit him across the back and swore at him because he was burning. :It was revealed that Dallas had received a severe burn on one of his arms from rescuing Johnny from the fire. He saw Ponyboy while getting moved on a stretcher, and said that he would hurt him if he ever pulled something like that again. :When Two-Bit and Ponyboy visit Dally in the hospital, he is arguing with a nurse. He told his friends that he wanted out of the hospital, and how Tim Shepard had dropped by earlier to see him. Dallas also mentions how he hates not being able to participate in the rumble later on that day. He tells Ponyboy that he was glad he didn't kill him when he put out the fire on his back. Ponyboy thinks of Dallas as his buddy instead of disliking him like he normally would because he said that. Dally then starts asking about Johnny, and Two-Bit reluctantly tells him that he wasn't looking so good. Dally starts swearing and asks Two-Bit for his switchblade. Dally tells Two-Bit and Pony that they need to win the rumble, and they have to do it for Johnny. Ponyboy and Two-Bit left, knowing it wasn't smart to hang around Dallas when he was in this sort of mood. :As Darry and Paul are circling each other to start the rumble, Dallas interrupts, allowing Paul to give the first punch. Dallas fights a Soc alongside Ponyboy, who asks him how he got there. Dally had talked the nurse into letting him go using Two-Bit's switchblade. Dally and Ponyboy are seen fighting together throughout the whole rumble. After the greasers win, and the Socs retreat, Dallas drags Ponyboy over to his car to go and see Johnny. :Dally gets pulled over by a police officer on the way, who couldn't believe there was a reason for Dally's driving. Dally tells Pony to pretend like he's hurt, and they are on their way to the hospital. The cop believes their story and offers them an escort to the hospital. On the rest of the drive, Dallas talked on and on about Johnny, and if Johnny was like him, then he wouldn't be in his current situation. :When they get to the hospital, the doctor doesn't let them in because of Johnny's health. Dallas whips out Two-Bit's switchblade and threatens the doctor, who lets them see Johnny. Ponyboy and Dallas enter Johnny's room, and he looks like he's already dead. Dallas wakes him up, and tells him all about how they beat the Socs and how Johnny's picture was in the paper. Johnny says that fighting is useless and tells Ponyboy to stay gold, then dies. Dallas freaks out and storms out of the room, leaving Ponyboy alone. :Back at the Curtis home, Darry receives a phone call from Dallas who called from a phone booth. He said he robbed a grocery store and needed to be hidden, so the gang went to meet him in the vacant lot. The gang got there at the same moment Dallas did, and they watched their towheaded friend skid to a halt underneath a streetlight. He took out his gun, which Ponyboy remembered as being a bluff, and raised it. Dallas got shot down by the police as soon as it went up, as Ponyboy thought he was a fool. Dallas fell to the ground with a look of triumph on his face, and Ponyboy realized that this is what he wanted, and Dally Winston always got what he wanted. :Ponyboy thinks about how nobody would praise Dally for what he's done, because society views him as a delinquent and a hood, when he really was a hero. A hero for helping Ponyboy and Johnny out, and for taking the fall for his buddies. Ponyboy says that he died young and dangerous, like everyone knew he would one day, and how Tim Shepard and the Brumly Boys would some day. Ponyboy also mentions that Johnny was right, Dallas did die gallant. :At the trial in court, Dallas is mentioned a few times. The judge questioned Sodapop and Darry about Dallas, asking if he was a good friend of theirs. Darry answered yes with a straight face, whereas Soda was nervous before answering. Ponyboy mentions that Dally was part of their gang and they would never desert him. :When Sodapop has a meltdown, he tells Darry and Pony that if they don't have each other, their fate could be like Dally's, which could be worse than dying. :Dallas is mentioned a few times in the letter from Johnny. Johnny had requested Ponyboy to tell Dally he thought it was worth saving the kids and to tell Dallas to look at a sunset. Ponyboy thinks to himself that it is too late to tell Dally that there is still lots of good in the world. Quotes "Ya kill 'em with switchblades, too, don't ya, kid?" Film Portrayal : Matt Dillon portrays Dallas Winston in the 1983 production of ''The Outsiders. Trivia *In the book, Dally is described as being towheaded (very blond) and blue eyed many times, but in the film, he has brown hair and brown eyes. Revealed in The Outsiders, page 10 and The Outsiders movie *In the book, Dally has a ring that he gives to his girlfriends, but in the movie, he has a necklace which Johnny refers to as a Christopher.''Revealed in ''The Outsiders, page 14 and The Outsiders movie *Dally's jockeying is not mentioned at all in the movie, whereas in the book, it is the only thing he does fairly.Revealed in The Outsiders, page 61 *In the movie, Dallas falling off his chair was a total accident. Francis Ford Coppola decided to keep filming. Revealed at fast-rewind.com References and Citations Category:Deaths Category:Greasers Category:Males Category:The Outsiders characters